A photographer documents her month-long journey to the coldest continent in the world, Antarctica.

It was indeed a once-in-a-life-time adventure. The thought hadn’t sunk in that my final destination was somewhere that only a tiny percentage of the world’s population has travelled to — partly perhaps because it includes a long, gruelling journey. I departed from my home in Mumbai, and flew to Ushuaia — the southern most tip of Argentina — from where the very first voyage to the South Pole set sail. Hundred and five years later, I was one of the few to make way to Antarctica.

The yacht we boarded was the diminutive Peter the First, which would serve as our home for the next four weeks. The vessel was so tiny that it was only enough to accommodate six photographers. The reason I did not choose to travel to Antarctica on a big cruise ship — and put myself through the rough sea-faring life aboard Peter the First — was because a smaller yacht can get to places that a big ship cannot owing to ice and iceberg blockages.

It also allowed us photographers to chase whales and sunsets for that perfect shot. If something looked interesting, we would go right up to it and photograph it from every angle possible. This would not have been possible on a luxury cruise ship. It was also a different kind of pleasure in hanging out with the sailors and listening to their amazing stories. And, Peter the First did break the world record in 2010 for being the only vessel in history to have sailed the Arctic Circle in a single journey.

The journey itself to Antarctica was a daunting one. On some days, it felt like we were inside a washing machine — when we encountered waves as high as five metres on the notorious Drake Passage, one of the most dangerous waters in the world. I had to hold on to the ceiling with my hands and feet to stop myself from rolling around all over in my cabin.

The tiny bathroom I had to use was a hilarious experience in itself. There were no locks; instead, there was a string that you had to pull from the inside to keep the door closed. Many a time, I had gone in, pulled the door shut and almost gone flying back out again. Chasing the foot-pumped tap water around the sink while brushing my teeth was another ball game altogether. Of course, there was only enough hot water for a once a week wash. Needless to say, in this game of Dignified Neha vs Peter the First, the boat won.

As we sailed into the South Pole, the destination I was dreaming about, I took in the view — a hundred humpback whales in every direction — and realised it just doesn’t get better than sailing alongside these huge, magnificent beasts. It was more incredible than I had imagined.

After spending weeks in the land where the sun never sets and the photographer never stops working, my hands and toes were frozen. Towards the end, the ability to complete sentences started to diminish. Though shattered, I did end up shooting and editing for 19 hours straight every day.

It was hard work getting to Antarctica, but I felt completely privileged to have experienced this magical mystery land.

During New Year’s Eve at midnight, it hit me that we were attempting a Bollywood flash mob in the middle of an underwater volcano, in the South Pole. I ended up leading a mostly Russian dance troupe while the temperature was freezing. That’s a sentence I never thought I would end up writing.

— The author is a seasoned traveller and the founder of Neha Brackstone Photography

See pics

Gerlache Strait We sailed lazily into the channel that separates the Palmer Archipelago from the Antarctic Peninsula. Though filled with icebergs, the water was as calm as a pond. It served as a perfect mirror to reflect the icebergs, snow-covered mountains and billowing clouds in the sky. The hint of a sunrise adds drama to the photograph

Port Lockroy The natural harbour, which was used for whaling between 1911 and 1931, is located on the north-western shore of Wiencke Island. We carried on shooting here till about midnight, and the pinks in the sky stayed with us till well after “sunset”. It was freezing so we went in to get warm, but decided to stay up to see sunrise as it looked like the clouds had cleared up by then. That’s me —in my distinctive tiger cap — shooting

Paradise Harbour The wide bay behind Lemaire and Bryde Islands is one of the only two harbours used for cruise ships. Here, we came across an iceberg which was easily 100 metres or more tall. We decided to get into the little dingy a few at a time and take photos of the yacht cruising near the iceberg. The red yacht looked so stunning against the blues of the iceberg, sky and water. And it looked so tiny in comparison to the iceberg

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